Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Lee Garbett, Pere Perez (artists), Alejandro Sicat and Walden Wong (inks)

The Story: Bruce Wayne arrives at the end of time, where those weird-eyed, fuzzy archivists help him along on the last leg of his journey through time and into the final steps of Darkseid’s plan to use him as a weapon. Superman, Rip Hunter and Green Lantern are stranded there, only moments away from catching up with Bruce. In the present….the JLA is waiting.

What’s Good: I know there are a few readers who argue that Batman needs the setting of Gotham to be an honest depiction (I’m usually one of those readers). Some have pilloried Morrison for sending essentially a regular guy in leather and spandex through time. However, Morrison did drop some thematic markers throughout the mini-series that he picked up here to good effect (in Tim Wayne’s mouth): It isn’t really fair that a regular guy has to fight gods. This is a deep statement that can be read in any number of ways. I really like that Morrison said it. The issue of scale in superhero comics is usually ignored (“Go get ’em Thor and…um…Hawkeye…” or “Superman, you check left! Wildcat, you cover right!”) which can really diminish a story in some ways. Morrison doesn’t solve the problem, but that nod to a basic flaw in comics made the end-of-time sequence really, really cool, as well as the psychedelic brushes with the New Gods mythos near the end. I also *loved* the nod to origin of Batman, with the hand on the bell, not knowing if he should ring or not for Alfred to come fix him up. This was very cool. It crystallized what Morrison had been doing with the bats throughout the series. There’s a lot more cool writing and story stuff, but we’re on word limits here, so I’ll stop for now.

Batman #702 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Tony Daniel (artist), Ian Hannin (colors)

The Story: R.I.P. The Missing Chapter, Part Two: Batman’s Last Case. This story fills in the gaps in the story of Batman and the Justice League prepping to face Darkseid, and what happens when they finally do.

What’s Good: Batman #701 had sub-wowed me, so I came to Batman #702 with mixed feelings. Was I going to be disappointed? Was Morrison losing his luster? Hell, no! The uneven start to this 2-issue arc could not hold back this moody, layered narrative. Batman’s monologue and its undercurrents were so strong that I felt like I was swimming in a river.

The big part of this swept-along feeling comes from Batman’s reactions to the situation. This is not some gadget-driven guy, blithely facing off against Superman-level foes with a smile on his face (as so often happens in the world of superhero teams where one guy can run at the speed of light and another happens to be good at gymnastics). This is a soldier in a war realizing that, man for man, he rates about as high as a stormtrooper in a Jedi fight. This is not the story of Achilles the Strong, but of Odysseus the Crafty, tinged with a fatalism that is new to my experience of Batman. A good writer of science fiction and fantasy will tease out all the implications of an idea or situation rather than continue to try and set us a-wonder under a deluge of ideas and tech. The implication that Morrison explores here is simple: what does an essentially normal guy in tights do when he has to face off against a god or monster? This is not Batman thinking about justice, but Batman thinking about his mortality. Can he face this with bravery? What will this drive him to? Odysseus violated the Greek ethic of guesthood. Here, Batman chooses to go against his own ethic never to use a gun. And Batman’s fatalistic thoughts and the psychological effects of his confusion are skillfully shown in Morrison’s running monologue in Bruce’s voice. This not only drives the story, but pulls us deeper into Bruce’s mind as he too is swept along.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #4 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer) Georges Jeanty (pencils), Walden Wong (inks), Tony Avina (colors) & Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: As he bounces through time, Bruce Wayne ends up in the Old West where he tangles with a familiar face.

What’s Good: It was kinda cool to see a Batman-Lone Ranger mash-up.  I really enjoyed the character design work on this iteration of Batman: How his utility belt is worn as a bandoleer, how he “draws” Batarangs instead of a single-action revolver and how the classic cowboy duster easily morphs into a cape. Cool visual imagery!

And, the other thing I liked about this issue was … nothing.

What’s Not So Good: Boy has this series gone from interesting to a stinker in just a few issues!  This issue seemed pretty disconnected from the rest of the RoBW series with the exception of the Bat-coffin and the tie-in with Thomas Wayne and the building of Wayne manor.  What happened to the story thread about Darkseid and how Bruce was going to destroy the world if he gets back to the present day?  Why is that cool plot thread neglected, but Morrison remembers to have more Vandal Savage?  Why can’t Bruce speak in this issue?  What is the deal with the Native American guy?  I found myself scratching my head a LOT while reading this issue and really didn’t enjoy the experience at all.

Batman #701 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Tony Daniel (artist), Ian Hannin (colors)

The Story: R.I.P. The Missing Chapter, Part One: Bruce Wayne survives a helicopter crash. On shore, he waits for Hurt to emerge from the depths of the river, but Hurt doesn’t. When Bruce later checks out the helicopter wreckage in the Bat-sub, he finds it empty. Hurt is gone. So where does this leave Bruce?

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: I’ve never seen Daniel draw Bruce Wayne in costume. It is very different from Dick Grayson under the cowl. Bruce’s stance is more imposing, more ominous, and dark. This is a good thing, but I also found his physique overdone, sometimes grossly so. Bruce walking into Wayne manor is a figure that in no way could be mistaken for Dick Grayson, or anyone else who hasn’t juiced up on steroids all his life. This is a bad thing. Bruce’s facial structure was also craggier and more hawk-like, which is probably a lot closer to the art style of the early 1940s and Kane’s original conception of Batman. This is good. However, the same effect taken head-on (not in profile or on an angle) was done with Superman’s face, which made him look a bit ridiculous. So, on draftsmanship, I think Daniel has the required skill, but it seemed like his discipline slipped once in a while, taking him from effective exaggeration in some panels, into disproportion and ugliness in others. On a side note, Hannin rocked the colors and Daniel did pick effective and dynamic camera angles, within relatively traditional layouts.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Yanick Paquette (artist), Michael Lacombe (inker)

The Story: Part Three, The Bones of Bristol Bay: Bruce Wayne is washed up on the shores outside of Gotham with pirates (Black Beard) and is mistaken for one himself. The other pirates hold him hostage so that he will lead him to the pirate’s gold.

What’s Good: This story was a lot of fun! The action and conflict shot out of the first page, and didn’t let up (with one exception), until near the end of the book. Bruce is getting more of his memory back, but it’s still patchy and we as readers don’t know where the patches are. This makes things more tense for us, because we really have no idea what Bruce has to work with. He’s at least got his detective skills (as we saw in the last issue), but the reader gets to share in Bruce’s disorientation. The narrative appears to be deliberately under-explained, but as the story progresses, enough pieces are laid out that the reader can figure it out. It’s great to be treated intelligently by a writer! Also, and as I said in my review of Return of Bruce Wayne #1, I really, really like the realistic way Bruce’s physical skills are handled by Morrison. Another writer would have had an unarmed Bruce mop up a dozen armed pirates without working up a sweat. Morrison doesn’t strain credibility with that – Bruce is obviously outgunned. Another part I really enjoyed with this story was the time travel. Morrison is now showing us the effects of Bruce’s previous episodes in the past and shows him starting to take active measures to deal with what he’s going through, leaving those pieces that Red Robin and Batman have been discovering in the present. It’s eerie and cool.

On art, jury is still out for me on Yanick Paquette. He did well with the dark, stormy mood of Gotham and the caves and his work on faces did the job, but I’m not sure how well they showed emotions. And for some reason, the eyes in many panels were just dark zones on the faces. Like I said, jury’s still out on whether I’d turn to a book because of Paquette, but he told the story competently.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Frazer Irving (artist), Mike Marts and Janelle Siegel (editorial team)

The Story: Bruce Wayne, damaged memory and lost in time, has disappeared from the Stone Age and reappeared in the new world of the puritan colonial Gotham. He’s been given an identity by a local woman who’s been accused of being a witch. Bruce does his detective thing to unravel a supernatural mystery. In the “meantime” (if meantime is defined as being simultaneous with moments before the heat death of the universe), Superman, Green Lantern, Rip Hunter and Booster Gold trace the Omega energy to the end of time. They find Bruce (not the same-time Bruce as the one in puritan Gotham…stay with me…time travel is all paradoxical) but not before he strands.

What’s Good: The whole thing. Wow. What great art. Frazer Irving’s work is a unique blend of stylized and creepy that’s simply awesome. His puritan witch hunt scared me. His scenes of Bruce fighting a spectral evil was moody. His expressions were evocative (the accused witch’s face when Bruce wakes up, Superman’s posture and expression when facing the archivist), requiring no words at all. And the archivist… Holy $#!^! What an awesome alien! It was made all the spookier with the one glowing, off-center eye.

Grant Morrison, who started slow in the last issue, barreled this book along. The story is fragmented, with shards set in the doomed future, pieces set in a monstrous psychedelic mindscape, and scraps hidden dark caves and in terrified puritan Gotham. Personalities grind together. The plot thickens. Superman spills the stakes: “He took your memories and relied on your survival instinct… You’ve been booby-trapped! Darkseid turned you into a doomsday weapon and aimed you at the 21st century!” This is heady stuff and very cool. This is why I like Darkseid. Find me a better evil genius whose name doesn’t start with “Tha” and end with “nos.” This isn’t sharks with lasers on their heads. Think about it. Darkseid booby-trapped one of the greatest superheroes of all time and shot him at the 21rst century. How cool is that?

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Chris Sprouse (artist), Karl Story (inker), Guy Major (colors), Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: A prehistoric tribe of hunters has stumbled upon some kind of rocket ship, and while reading spiritual meaning into its appearance, and against the backdrop of a rite of passage, they follow strange tracks leading away from the craft. They encounter a flock of bats and a confused man who speaks in tongues. They keep him, treating this supernatural being, partly as a ghost, partly as a pet. Then the Blood Mob Tribe attacks and it goes very much downhill…

What’s Good: When the Blood Mob Tribe attacked, I expected Bruce to make short work of them. I really, really respected Morrison for making Bruce take an arrow in the shoulder and retreat. Batman is one of the most superb fighters on Earth, but he is still a man, and so many writers forget that. When the Blood Mob Tribe actually caught him, I was even more impressed. How the heck is he going to get out of this? Morrison also did some fine voice work. The tribespeople didn’t use different words than us, but their word order and expressions were different enough to give me the flavor of a simpler, changed language of thirty thousand years ago. And he succeeded in delivering an emotional note to this story with the advice and teachings that the tribe kept giving to the boy undergoing his rite of passage. It made me care a lot more about the story. My tension rose a lot at the appearance of Superman and Green Lantern, especially since they were too late. Now I’m itching to learn more about what they were talking about.

Batman and Robin #12 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Andy Clarke, Scott Hanna, Dustin Nguyen (artists), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: The Mexican Train, Part 3: Robin is still being controlled by his mother (read whatever Freudian angle you want into that) and therefore trying to kill Batman. They duke it out, but Batman pulls out some tech and some theory and gives his attackers a taste of their own medicine. Then, Dick is left with two things to do: solve the mystery of Bruce Wayne and deal with Talia.

What’s Good: Morrison has got a really strong ear for dialogue. It comes out natural and real and without being filled with information characters wouldn’t say. He keeps his words to a minimum, in fact, so that this story is told more from the art side (at least the action sequences). Morrison also draws out, until the end of the book, the mystery of Sexton (I didn’t see that one coming), while the larger mystery, of whether Bruce is alive or not, sometime in the past, is teased out, clue by clue. My two favorite moments in this comic were the shredded Batman cowl hanging on the antlers in the deepest caves under the Wayne Manor and the back splash page.

What’s Not So Good: Alright. I know that last time I dinged this book some grades for Clarke’s art, it got people going (I wasn’t in the majority). But I cannot lie. I still don’t like it. To me, Clarke’s art lacks dynamism. Check out bottom of page two, Damian breaking a shovel over Dick’s arm. Damian just kind of looks straight, hanging in the air. No arms or legs splayed for balance, no arching of the back to give greater force to the blow, and even though he is yelling “Slaaaaade!” his facial expression is stiff, like he’s ordering a latte. The splash page is a little better, but then check out the top panel of page four, where Dick is close to breaking Damian’s ribs with that kick. The cape is fluttering behind him while obviously he’s being driven back by the blow, yet his body is not curling with it. This may sound like a lot of nitpicking, but what I’m talking about is the dynamism described most clearly in “How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way.” It doesn’t matter that it’s Marvel or DC. The rules of perspective, form, dynamism, posture, etc, apply to the superhero genre as a whole. Other action postures throughout the book don’t work for me either.

Red Robin #12 – Review

By Chris Yost (writer), Marcus To (pencils), Ray McCarthy (inks), Guy Major (colors) and Sal Cipriano (letters)

The Story The epic “Collisions” storyline comes to a conclusion as the League of Shadows threatens everything and everyone Bruce Wayne holds dear. As time begins to run out, Red Robin finally comes face to face with Ra’s al Ghul.

What’s Good: Red Robin has been a fantastic book since issue #1, but the whole creative team really pulls out all the stops for the conclusion of this first arc. In addition to being an absolutely excellent and suspenseful story as a whole, Tim Drake himself gets some wonderful character moments. The way he relies on his brain even more than his (not insignificant) fighting skill during his confrontation with al Ghul cements this Red Robin’s place as a worthy addition to the Bat-family, while the courage and character he exhibits earns him the title of ‘hero’ in his own right as well. This book has allowed Tim to mature in the best way, both as a person and a character, and the payoff we witness in this issue is a wholly satisfying pleasure to see. The actual conclusion—both to the issue and the storyline as a whole—is…not what I expected at all, but it works very well and is actually quite heartwarming to watch, after everything Tim has been through and sacrificed in the last year.